Originally Posted by
rickdog81
Does someone have the approximate dimensions of bicycle frame box for a 58cm Specialized Allez frame with fork? I am trying to get an idea of the shipping costs using fedex.com but I am not sure what dimensions to enter. The frame is coming from Colorado Springs to Los Angeles and the seller has quoted me $50, but I think he entered bicycle box dimensions not frame box dimensions. I am a graduate student so every dollar I can save counts. Thank You.
Frankly, when every dollar counts, I would look locally for a deal. $50 shipping charge is pretty reasonable.
The two breakpoints for Fed Ex are 108 inches and 130 inches. This is girth (circumference all the way around the box) plus length. Go measure a box at your local LBS. The ones I have seen were all over 108 inches, which means cutting it down quite a bit if you are shooting for 108 inches or less. And the bigger the frame, the tougher such an undertaking will be. And realize many bike shops receive frames that were shipped on a pallet, so the individual box is not handled much at all. When you ship one bicycle box, it gets handled a lot, so it better be well protected.
Here's a large frame (62cm) I recently shipped, ignore the seat post as it was removed prior to shipping. It is sitting on top of a Fuji bike box that measures 129 inches (one inch to spare).
The width of the box (thickness) was wider than required, at about 11 inches wide. so I could be cut down quite a bit (I probably could have shaved at least 6 inches off the box - 3 each side). Consider that standard vintage drop outs are at 126mm (inside measurement), that's 5 inches wide. So say the outside dimensions of the rear drop out are a little less than six inches. How much space for cushioning, packing material, etc., do you want around your frame?
I do not see the length or height changing much from this picture. Sure, I could have cut the top left corner and bottom right corner off at a diagonal, but my understanding on how they measure the box (they pick the biggest area for girth), the measurements would not have changed. Note, this is with the fork removed. Imagine the fork on this frame.
Here's the frame and fork, wrapped with $10 of foam insulation, a package of zip ties and quite a bit of tape. Both drop outs supported by 2 x 2 lumber. I added an additional piece of foam to protect the seat post lug area. Once wrapped in foam, that rear drop area measured almost 8 inches across. That left me with 1 1/2 inches clearance on each side. Shipping was not cheap (Fed Ex), but frame arrived save and sound.
